Hi! I’m Charlotte Hale. I’m the Owner, Founder and
Creative Director at Plum Pretty Sugar. I started the brand nearly nine years
ago.

I’m going to keep it casual and interactive.

-Who
here sells something? A physical consumer product?

-Who
here created, founded or invented something?

-Who
here is starting something?

Glad you're here guys!

ABOUT ME:

-I have always wanted the brand
to stand for itself. But as the brand grows and develops, we realize our
clients want to know more about the story. And this story comes from a very
personal place.

-But before I go there, let me
backup and tell you a quick bit about me.

-I have a love for
consumer products. At school, I focused there and have ever since. Fresh out of
school, I was recruited by a consumer product company and for many years grew large consumer product brands in large corporate organizations.

-Now here’s where its
gets interesting… I got married. The man I married didn’t live in an area
conducive to a large marketing job. It left me little choice but to start my own company. Not this company,
another, then another, then another…

-And then, I got
divorced and I sold, dissolved and ended those companies. So there I am in
pieces, coming out of a marriage full of abuse, turmoil, terror and truly and
stories you’d find hard to believe… and I needed to make a living. My life was filled with deep sadness, it was broken and truly dark.

-One of the side-businesses
of one of my businesses prior was a small retail shop. It sold all kinds of
pretty things. Some of the fastest-moving were robes, dresses, pretty cotton
wearables (this was in a tiny ski town in Colorado) that I created just for fun. And I thought to
myself, ah! I’ll do that… create more of those pretty things while I figure out
what I’ll really do. It was to be a seasonal in/out gift business to get me
through. And so I gave it a fun, whimsical, not fully thought through name and
went ahead.

-Unexpectedly those items sold and kept selling and I quickly realized it could be more… and that maybe
this was THE business, not just a "tide me over until I think of it business."

-And... thinking and creating the business helped me through some of the darkest times in my
life. And did I think! I spent a ton of time analyzing the marketplace, looking
at consumer categories and ultimately developing production.

SO HOW DID I COME UP WITH THIS WEDDING THING?

-Most of you know, well
gosh… maybe you don’t… the “getting ready” bridal category did not exist. Nope,
not a single brand, nada, nothing. So how did I create it? I went back to
business school basics and looked at “usage;” platforms wherein consumers might
use the product.

-And so I began the
outreach, the marketing to the wedding industry. Keep in mind this was
nine years ago and the marketing and wedding landscape was very different. I
would actually pick up the phone and call editors, planners, influencers and... leave voicemails!

-I would save up
enough money to buy an ad (still do!) but the point is, there wasn’t any
social networking! No organic, “free” tagging or loving. NOTHING.

-Eventually I had
called enough people and sold enough pieces that the word of mouth began and then
the photos.The photos were
huge!

-The first real deal,
real wedding, was featured on Style Me Pretty. It was early days for them as well and via an up and coming Planner. To this day we still see that wedding
and those photos pinned and Abby (SMP’s Founder although now owned by Yahoo) still
talks about it. (Only last year did
we phase out that collection. It stood the test of time for many, many years.
It was our Signature collection.)

-From there, I just
kept going. There were thousands and thousands of hours of work done. Keep in
mind I was single, I didn’t have kids and was selfishly focused on healing my
heart and my soul. Work was just what it needed.

-This went on for
years and year over year we exceeded goals, numbers and dreams. And THEN I met
my now husband… who at last, brought me joy. With that joy came a new
confidence and a new power to go and grow forward even more. Also at that time, a former employee and childhood friend knocked off the brand (beginning the
current knock-off spiral,) giving me further incentive and frankly a kindly kick-ass reason to go
forward and really bring it!

TODAY

Today we’re focused
on:

1.Maintaining our leadership in the Getting
Ready space we created.

2.XXX (leaving this out on paper)

3.XXX (leaving this out on paper)

4.XXX (leaving this out on paper)

5.Lots, lots more here we're leaving out on paper. Lesson:
be inspired, not a copycat. Be your own authentic!

We’re also dedicated
to doing it on a very tight and self-funded budget. Note to everyone: don’t go
into debt for your business… no, no, no.

GENERAL BRANDING/MARKETING

Which leads me into
some of my topline tips for branding… my favorite thing.

-What is branding?
Does anyone here have a quick answer? Branding is by definition the name,
brand, symbol or design that differentiates a product from its competition.

-Branding to me:

-A process of creating emotional
connection from product to a customer.

-So within that “branding
process,” for me at PPS there are two key things we think about:

-I wake up every
single day knowing my number! I know exactly what this days number was last year
and the sales we need to create each day to create 10% growth, 20% growth and
so on. And if all goes wrong, I know it immediately and I can side-step and adjust. That’s key you guys! Know
what you’re making and know what you’re spending.

Trends:

-Monitor trends in your industry and related industries.

-Know when to pull the plug.

-We see some trends right now. Can
anyone tell us one?

Competition:

-Glance but don’t stare.

-Just because something is working
for them doesn’t mean it will for you.

I have made mistakes.
99% of the time I knew it when I made them. I chose not to listen. Listen you
guys. Give yourself space and feel through a decision, a friendship, a new
person in your life… always.